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ONCIDIUM AMPLIATUM ina. M AJUS Hore 
OncipIuM AMPLIATUM, Lindl, Bot. Reg. 20, t. 1699; Folia Orch., No. 90; O. ampliatum, Lindl. in Hook, Bot. mise. v. 3; Gen. and Sp. Orch, p. 202. 
ONCIDIUM AMPLIATUM MAJUS, FI. de Serres, tt. 2140-1 ; Garden and Forest, May 1, 1880, p. 211. 
Folia et pseudobulbi facie omnino O, papilionis. Scapus ascendens, radicalis, 1%4—2 pedalis, apice ramosus. Flores lutei, labelli dorso albo. Sepalis 
omnibus liberis, labello bilobo subrotundo transverso ; laciniis lateralibus brevissimis, callo bascos 5-lobo ; lobis lateralibus patentissimis planis truncatis 
intermediis teretibus centrali compresso, alis columnz cuncatis dentatis reflexis, pseudobulbis subrotundis compressis, foliis planis oblongo-lanceolatis, scapo 
erecto apice ramoso, 
Tcones analytic. Labellum expansum. Columna antice et a latere. Pollinarium. 
THERE is quite an old-world ting, an echo of the good old times, about the name of this fine and showy species, 
introduced, as it was, to English gardens over fifty years ago, at a time when Orchid growers could almost be counted 
on the fingers of one’s two hands and when the Horticultural Society led the van of horticultural progress and enterprise 
in England, sending out its collectors to China, Mexico, and elsewhere abroad in order to enrich the gardens of the time. 
Hartweg, the society’s collector, found this plant at Escuentla, but Cuming had previously discovered it on the shore of 
the gulf of Nicoya, in Costa Rica, in a climate the maximum heat of which is 85 deg. Of late years O, ampliatum majus 
has not been cultivated as much as in the old exhibition days, when splendid specimens, covered with their lovely sprays of 
golden blossoms, were often seen at the London and Manchester Spring shows. No doubt the introduction of new and 
large-flowered kinds has drawn the attention of cultivators from this old favourite. There was once exhibited a specimen 
in a large pot, bearing fifteen luxuriant branched spikes over a yard in height and nearly five feet through the mass of 
yellow blossoms. Beautiful as O, Marshallianum and O. Rogersii may be, we never saw them equal this as above 
described. O. ampliatum majus is an easy plant to manage, producing its flowers during the spring and early summer 
months. A peculiarity about its flowers is that, although rich chrome yellow in front, they are nearly white behind, thus 
giving to them a singular, luminous appearance. Soon after the introduction of this fine variety, Mrs. Lawrence, of 
Ealing Park, used to exhibit a marvellous specimen of it at the London shows, and this fact soon rendered it popular in 
almost all good collections then known. The plant has a robust constitution and is of easy culture, but it requires heat 
and will not endure too much moisture when at rest or in flower. Its foliage is stout and leathery, and it enjoys more 
sunshine than do the thin-leaved species. Small plants thrive well in teak baskets or Suspension pans in a rough 
compost of peat and moss, and when in bloom are very handsome, remaining in perfection for several weeks. Nearly all 
the Oncids are lovely ; how cheerful and sweet, for instance, is O. obryzatum, with its golden tiara and delicious fragrance 
of hawthorn blossom! O. Rogersii, when draped with its drooping clusters of golden butterfly-like flowers, is a most 
lovely thing, as also are O. bifolium majus, O. concolor, and the numerous forms of O. crispum, O. curtum, O. (amictum) 
sarcodes, the rush-leaved O. Jonesianum, and, lastly, the true “ Butterfly Oncid,” O. papilio, and its more gaily adorned 
form O. Kramerii. There is a tradition that the late Duke of Devonshire, the generous patron of the London 
Horticultural Society in its early and palmy days, was led to cultivate Orchids from the delight he experienced in seeing 
a plant of Oncidium papilio in flower at one of the floral exhibitions. As a result of his admiration for these plants, the 
late Mr. John Gillson was dispatched to India on a collecting tour, and the result was the introduction of many new 
species to the Duke’s collection, most of which were described by the late Dr. John Lindley, who was the great Orchid 
authority of his time. 
Prepared from a plant in the possession of F. G. Tautz, Esq., Studley House, Goldhawk Road, London, 
